Magic Mike burning up the online ticket sites

Fandango hints film’s opening could be big

The male-stripper drama Magic Mike has been flying under the radar as it heads toward its release date. But online ticket tracking now suggests that Mike could dominate the weekend. Do you have your ticket yet?

If early ticketing numbers are any indication, Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike is going to be huge.

OK, so “huge” is a relative term. No one is expecting the male-stripper dramedy -- which stars 21 Jump Street hottie Channing Tatum in a semi-biographical role -- to put up The Avengers or The Hunger Games numbers. But analysts say Magic Mike is tracking way ahead of the raunchy teddy bear comedy Ted and the animated hit Brave as we head into the weekend.

As of Wednesday, Magic Mike's share of ticket sales on the popular online ticket broker Fandango had spiked to 53% of the day’s sales, a company spokesman said in a release. To give you an idea of the competition, Brave was 17% and Ted 7% of the day’s sales.

Why the surge? The L.A. Times has a few theories, pointing mostly to Warner Bros.’ wise marketing decision to go after women and urge them to see it in a group. As one ad for the risque drama put it, “Tell your boyfriend you’re going to the book club.”

And instead, spend it in the strip club.

Soderbergh’s movie centers on Mike (Tatum), a male stripper who dreams of escaping the life. But it hangs its hat on several scenes in the male strip clubs, where the impossibly buff cast of Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer and Joe Manganiello bare it all for the benefit of a thin plot.

It’s also telling that the Magic Mike tickets are being sold online, where consumers can maintain an air of anonymity. Would the tickets be selling quite as quickly if demure women had to walk up to the ticket booth and proudly declare they want one for Magic Mike?